Representative Matters

Regulatory/Administrative:

Advised multiple clients on the full scope of regulatory requirements and procedures for the conduct of oil and gas operations in Montana, the necessary filings with the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation, surface owner notification requirements and Ft. Peck Tribe Tribal Employment Rights Ordinance compliance.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in the lifting of a $20,000 regulatory operations bond suspension and the acquisition of county permits to allow the conduct of exploration and development operations on lands in southwest Colorado.

Advised an oil and gas exploration company in the interpretation of federal statutes and regulations governing common carrier designations for operators of pipeline easements and rights-of-way covering federal lands in northwest Utah.

Advised an oil and gas services company in the interpretation of a tribal rights employment ordinance and compliance procedures concerning oil and gas operations concerning tribal lands in western North Dakota.

Advised an oil and gas exploration company regarding the handling of authorization for expenditure cost recovery, overlap leasing and cost participation issues caused by migration of Missouri River in western North Dakota.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in a review by the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, New Mexico State Director of an adverse federal agency decision regarding the cancellation of oil and gas leasehold interests covering tribal lands.

Advised multiple oil and gas exploration companies in the interpretation of North Dakota Industrial Commission, Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, Utah Board of Oil, Gas and Mining, and Montana Board of Oil and Gas statutes and regulations applicable to fee, state and federal lands.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company before the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining Board, obtaining first-time regulatory approval of an overlapping, fieldwide well spacing scheme covering approximately 50,000 acres of mixed fee, state, federal and tribal lands.

Advised an oil and gas exploration company in the interpretation of procedures for the nomination of State of Montana lands for oil and gas leasing.

Represented oil and gas exploration company in the defense of tenth ever Cease and Desist Order issued by Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, resulting in penalty decreases of approximately $543,000.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in a review by the United States Department of the Interior, Office of Natural Resources Revenue, Director of an adverse federal agency decision regarding the audit of royalty payment history concerning various tribal oil and gas leases covering lands in New Mexico

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in a unique post-well plugging spacing and pooling application before the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in a review by the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Montana State Director of an adverse federal agency decision regarding federal oil and gas lease validity.

Created and oversaw discussion among multiple-entity industry working group in context of operator liability issues under North Dakota law.

Served on a committee commissioned by the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation to study, comment on, and provide guidelines regarding the statutory pooling of unlocatable mineral and leasehold interests.

Transactional:

Represented an oil and gas holding company in the negotiation and drafting of a $3 million purchase and sale agreement covering the acquisition of fee surface, mineral and overriding royalty interests in southwest Colorado and northwest New Mexico.

Represented an oil and gas midstream company in the negotiation and drafting of a midstream gas gathering and processing agreement covering fee, state, federal and tribal lands in northwest Utah.

Represented an oil and gas company in the negotiation and drafting of a $4.37 million participation agreement covering the exploration and development of fee lands in southwest Colorado.

Represented an oil and gas holding company in the negotiation and drafting of a $2 million purchase and sale agreement covering the divestiture of fractional fee mineral and leasehold overriding royalty interests in southwest Colorado, northwest New Mexico and western Nebraska.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in the negotiation and drafting of a $500,000 assignment and bill of sale covering the acquisition of fee surface estate acreage in western North Dakota.

Advised an oil and gas midstream company in the interpretation of a legacy gas gathering and processing agreement covering fee, state, federal and tribal lands in northwest Utah.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in the negotiation and drafting of a $10 million purchase and sale agreement covering the divestiture of fee, state and federal oil and gas leasehold interests in northern Colorado.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in the $4.7 million acquisition of producing oil and gas leasehold interests covering fee lands in western North Dakota.

Represented an oil and gas holding company in the negotiation and drafting of a complex oil and gas overriding royalty interest distribution agreement covering fee, state and federal lands in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming.

Represented a solution mining company in the negotiation and drafting of potash and subsurface pore space leases covering fee and state lands in northern North Dakota.

Represented an oil and gas insurance broker in the development and implementation of a uniform master service agreement for its clients.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in the acquisition of oil and gas leasehold interests covering tribal lands in northern New Mexico and advised on the interpretation and amendment of associated agreements under the Indian Mineral Development Act.

Advised an oil and gas midstream company in the interpretation and drafting of various federal helium contracts, gas gathering and processing agreements, master service agreements and related issues concerning royalty valuation, allowable deductions and tax matters associated with natural gas gathering system and processing facility on fee lands in east central Utah.

Represented multiple oil and gas exploration companies in the negotiation and drafting of numerous oil and gas surface use agreements, pipeline easements and rights-of-way covering fee lands in North Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Montana.

Represented multiple oil and gas exploration company clients in the interpretation of mortgages, deeds of trust and financing statements encumbering oil and gas leasehold interests covering fee, state, federal and tribal lands in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming, for both lending and acquisition purposes.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in the negotiation and drafting of surface and subsurface pore space leases associated with a federally funded carbon dioxide sequestration project on fee lands in northern Montana.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in the negotiation and drafting of subsurface drill-though agreements covering fee and state lands in northern Colorado and central Wyoming.

Represented a publicly regulated natural gas utility in the acquisition of hundreds of pipeline and associated facility easements and rights-of-way, and in a wide range of landowner pipeline disputes, including alternative dispute resolution, litigation, settlement and condemnation proceedings.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in the drafting and negotiation of a salt water disposal well joint operating agreement and the associated local government permitting process for the same on fee lands in northern Colorado.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in a $4 million divestiture of producing oil and gas leasehold interests covering fee and federal lands in north-central Colorado.

Assisted an oil and gas exploration company in a $14 million divestiture of producing oil and gas leasehold interests covering tribal lands in northwest Utah.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in the drafting and negotiation of Indian Mineral Development Act Agreement with Ute Mountain Ute Tribe covering lands in northern New Mexico.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company with respect to a federal oil and gas lease auction held by the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in all aspects of the purchase of distressed bankruptcy assets, conveyance of same to an operator, and the negotiation of and associated memorandum of understanding covering Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission regulatory issues.

Litigation/Arbitration/Dispute Resolution/Expert Witness:

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in state court litigation regarding public road easement and gravel use on fee lands in western North Dakota.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in federal court litigation involving bad faith insurance denial regarding well control issue.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in state court litigation regarding the alleged illegal flaring of natural gas from fee lands in western North Dakota.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in the Colorado domestication of a $1 million North Dakota oil and gas lease dispute court judgment and the related execution/collection eﬀorts.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in state court litigation regarding breach of a broker agreement and securities fraud.

Represented several oil and gas exploration companies in state court litigation regarding the subject matter jurisdiction of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and the exhaustion of administrative remedies.

Represented multiple oil and gas exploration companies in state court litigation seeking the removal of imprudent coalbed methane operator on fee and state lands in southern Montana and northern Wyoming.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in state court litigation regarding injunctive relief tied to Clean Water Act issues, prosecuted through the North Dakota Supreme Court.

Represented oil and gas exploration company concerning a contract dispute regarding the interpretation of term assignments covering lands in central Wyoming.

Represented oil and gas land services company in the handling of civil and criminal subpoenas duces tecum issued by Colorado courts related to company’s former client and subsequent cost/expense recovery.

Represented a potash solution mining company in the leasing, title work, due diligence, potash plant financing/construction and handling of various patent/copyright/trademark issues covering fee and state lands in southern Michigan.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in the due diligence portions of a $5 million lending transaction secured by oil and gas leasehold interests covering lands in northern Colorado.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in the due diligence, operations bonding and well permitting portions of a $46 million acquisition of oil and gas leasehold interests covering fee, state and federal lands in central Wyoming.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in the due diligence portions of an $81 million acquisition of oil and gas leasehold interests covering fee and federal lands in central Wyoming.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in the due diligence portions of an acquisition of oil and gas leasehold interests covering fee lands in southern North Dakota and in the interpretation/application of North Dakota's secondary recovery unit statutory Pugh clause.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in the due diligence portions of an acquisition of oil and gas leasehold interests covering tribal lands in northeast Utah.

Represented multiple oil and gas exploration companies in the preparation and/or review of hundreds of drilling and division order title opinions, acquisition opinions, ownership opinions, title reports, etc. covering fee, state, federal and tribal lands in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in the due diligence portions of a $360 million acquisition of oil and gas leasehold interests covering fee, state and federal lands in northern Colorado.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company in the due diligence portions of a $16 million acquisition of carbon dioxide leasehold interests covering federal lands in western Colorado.

Represented an oil and gas exploration company with all aspects of title due diligence for $6.1 billion dollar corporate merger between two publicly-traded companies.